Paw & Property is a pet care provider in Basel, Switzerland, caring for cats, dogs and everything in between since 2017. The small company is family owned by my husband Johan and me, Stephanie, a couple in their late 30s, who noticed the need for regular and professional holiday pet and property care during their travels through New Zealand and Australia. Starting as an initiative for more interesting travel arrangements, Paw & Property was founded with the focus to become a trusted partner and experienced provider of exclusive pet and house care services.
It‘s all about trust.
All home owners have the same need for trust, security and peace of mind. With an extended Airbnb travel experience and positive reviews from it we were able to establish the first Paw & Property assignments until we had a portfolio of home and pet owners trusting our valued services. It was all about maintaining a great communication while pet and house sitting, a tidy presentation and leaving the accommodation the exact same way we found it.
How did we reach out to the home owners and what did a day in our lives look like?
Depending on the location where Johan and I planned our next travels we used different platforms and sent our applications, hoping to get a few offers. What we didn’t know then was that we would later be able to pick and choose from a vast selection of various properties, locations and assignments.
Being slow travelers, aiming to live as locals among locals, attending the local farmers’ markets and getting to know the areas in a slower pace, this travel arrangement made it possible to spend several weeks and even up to one and a half months in one location, really taking our time to explore the area. Sometimes we would spend the day relaxing at the pool, sometimes we would take a dog or two on a car drive to a nearby beach and sometimes, on a rainy day, we would cuddle up with a cat, make a fire, read a book or watch a movie in the home movie theater.
Now, is it all just relaxation and exploring?
Being on an assignment we took very seriously, we took it upon us to keep the properties immaculate until the owners’ return which required daily labor with the animals, the house and the gardens. As all of this was a huge business venture and we had our working visas, we were able to register our business with the national authorities, created a website, a „social media business card“, registered and verified our services with various platforms, printed business cards and flyers and scheduled phone interviews and meetings. In summary there was a lot of administration, organization and logistics involved to get all the bookings.
What types of animals were involved and what were the travel highlights?
Mostly we cared for cats and dogs but we even had several rural assignments ranging from caring for fish, guinea pigs, chicken, guinea fowls and other exotic birds to calves and large horses.
During our travels we experienced earthquakes, cyclones, flash floods, bush fire, meteorites, the most venomous spiders (redbacks and funnel-webs) and the most dangerous brown snakes and really scary scorpions. We have cuddled koalas and one-legged kiwis, kayaked with fur seals, encountered whales, tried to save a beached dolphin on a reef, sailed the coast of Auckland, road-tripped both islands of New Zealand, snorkeled and explored the Fijian Islands and the Great Barrier Reef with boats and helicopter, spending time with turtles, sharks and rays and these are only a few of the highlights we ticked off our bucket list. After two years of travel adventures we decided to return to Basel, Switzerland, based ourselves in Gellert near the Rhine and registered Paw & Property KlG in Switzerland.
What happens next?
Well, the 2020 pandemic struck shortly after we arrived in Basel but we have been providing pet and property care services locally nevertheless and have been working on opening our pet designer product webshop, which has launched early this year. We will definitely continue to travel and take on assignments caring for pets and properties abroad, but our priority is to be here in Basel for you and your pets and to provide affection and care when you‘re not there.
If you are planning a short business trip, a weekend adventure in the mountains or even a longer vacation, please leave your contact details and a brief description of what you are looking for in our contact form. Maybe you already have a few vacation dates in mind? We are looking forward to hearing from you!